Businesses need to have a balanced approach and multiple innovation products and ideas in the works to drive business value. The easiest type of innovation to work on — and maybe the most important to your customers — is incremental.

Incremental innovation is akin to hitting a single in baseball. This type of innovation isn't about swinging for the fence and getting it all at once. Instead it's about looking at the larger game — getting a hit and moving someone into scoring position.

Incremental innovation is something that everyone in your business should be doing. The following line should be in every person’s job description: “And along with the other roles and responsibilities of this position, this role requires an individual who will constantly challenge the status quo and look for ways to innovate products and processes to drive value for our customers.”

Empower employees to be responsible to step up and look for improvements, and tell them that it’s more than just OK — it’s expected.

Consider the incremental improvement of smartphone apps. Think about what it’s like when you download a great app on your phone. You tell everyone about the app and how it helps you with something. But inevitably, there’s a little snag or glitch that irritates you or could simply be better.

Soon (if you're lucky), there’s an updated app available for download to your device! Someone has heard about the improvement opportunity and made the app better. You download the latest-and-greatest version of your beloved app, and your experience and satisfaction has gone from enthusiastic to amazing.

Patrick Stroh is a president at Mercury Business Advisors, which provides management advisory services in business strategy, innovation, and product development. He is also the author of "Business Strategy: Plan, Execute, Win!" He recently held positions within UnitedHealth Group, including chief strategy and innovation officer, client experience officer, president, and SVP of business strategy. Stroh holds an MBA from the University of St. Thomas.